


the things only nanao taichi can handle

by rakuenoasis



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Jealousy, Light Angst, Light Implied Homophobia, M/M, taichi b like: help, tenma u fool, u absolute buffoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25259662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rakuenoasis/pseuds/rakuenoasis
Summary: "That's it, I'm announcing it on TV tomorrow!"(Taichi receives a heap of confession notes on Valentine's day. Tenma is a sore butt.)
Relationships: Nanao Taichi/Sumeragi Tenma
Comments: 4
Kudos: 71





	the things only nanao taichi can handle

**Author's Note:**

> done not bc of a3 rarepair week but because writing this bandori fic is stressing me out and i need to release all of it
> 
> send help

_What._

"You can't be serious!" is what Taichi first exclaims, except that's not exactly the ideal response to your mega-celebrity boyfriend declaring that he'd announce about their one-year relationship to the public first thing in the morning, on national news. And yes, maybe Taichi should've shut his mouth for a bit longer to think about how he should approach the situation because when he gets all panicky, Tenma gets even more brash. And everyone, especially Nanao Taichi (and Yuki, to an extent) knows that a brash and angry Tenma is _not_ the best version of Tenma anyone should ever see.

The last time brash Tenma appeared, of course, was over a year ago when he failed miserably in confessing to Taichi.

And boy does Taichi not want history to repeat itself.

Especially with such a silly reason, like the mountain of confession letters Taichi received the whole day in campus, for instance.

Tenma being the bare witness of this, of course, does not help the situation either.

"How else will people learn to stop confessing their love to you when I'm right here?"

Taichi could only raise his eyebrow in utter shock, as if deeply offended by the remark, as if Tenma is one to talk about a multitude of people confessing their love to him. For years, at that. "And so?! _You've_ been receiving letters, bouquets and invitations to expensive dinner dates since high school!"

"That's different!"

"How is it different?!"

"They're only with me because of my fame. They haven't see me or my quirks and flaws because any journalist can paint all those off here and there. You, on the other hand, are different. People already see the real deal in you! You're stupid and cute even if you mess up and it's no wonder people will chase after you like this!"

Now, Taichi finds this almost impossible to believe. He's practically stuck himself to Tenma like extremely sticky glue since elementary. He's been his schoolmate through and through in high school, troupe mates and rivals at best when at Mankai, friends regardless of environment, and now boyfriends stitched together til death do apart for a year now. Taichi practically grew up _with_ Tenma and sees him through and through better than anyone else.

And if there's anything that Taichi can tell anyone without a stutter about the Tenma Sumeragi he grew up with, it's that everyone in Ouka High (and St. Flora, to an extent) definitely saw that footage of Tenma tripping and falling into the toilet bowl, head first. Everyone in Ouka High also contacted law enforcements and even entertainment agencies because Tenma was nowhere to be seen for more than six hours that one time (how he ended up at Osaka is a question that remains to be unsolved). And just last week in the canteen of Yosei, Tenma choked on a tiny piece of chicken. And instead of grabbing for the water, he chugged down on a bottle of _soy sauce_. And _everyone_ saw that.

Yet here is Tenma Sumeragi, despite all these stupid moments of his broadcasted by both public eye and word, still getting love notes, secret admirers, and even invitations to dates even now that they're in college.

So if anybody is least likely to be convinced in what Tenma has said, it's definitely Taichi.

Which then leads him to believe that this doesn't have anything to do with social status or whatever prince-and-pauper traits have set them apart since the beginning. In fact, it's probably something more personal and more on...Tenma, being the cause of this problem.

The words come out faster than realisation hits.

"Don't tell me you're jealous."

It seems, to Taichi, that he just striked the iron right while it was still hot.

Too hot, that is.

The results are just as chaotic, as Taichi should've expected. Tenma sends Taichi's pillow to the other side of the room and loudly screams into his sheets.

"I'M NOT JEALOUS!"

Taichi yelps, running off to take his pillow back before climbing up the ladder and returning to Tenma, his head still unmoving from his blankets. On a normal occasion, Taichi would find Tenma's apparent jealousy quite cute. He wouldn't not spare an opportunity to tease about it, chanting about how in love Tenma is for him to be this defensive while poking the red in his cheeks.

Except Taichi knows that it's not the right time to actually do...that. He needs a different approach, a sure-fire response that would hopefully ease the tension in the room. It's a good that they're talking about this in his and Omi's room. Had they settled this in Room 201, Taichi knows that he wouldn't come out of it so easily, especially if Yuki ends up coming home in the middle of their argument.

"W-Well, it's not like I'd accept those letters right away! I mean, you know that!" Taichi exclaimed, sinking onto the floorboard where his bed lies on, knees crossed upwards with his pillow in between his legs. He then pouts and looks down, face almost burying the pillow in front of him. "If you're acting up over something like this, then that only means Ten-chan doesn't trust me..."

As if by magic, the tension in the room suddenly dissipates.

Tenma draws his head out of the sheets and rests his chin on them instead, eyes locked on his lover's hurtful gaze.

"T-Taichi...I'm sorry. I didn't...mean to make you feel like I don't trust you..."

Taichi sighs and looks at Tenma with a small smile. As expected of himself, he was able to bring Tenma back to his senses. 

Of course, what's left now is to pick up the pieces and put them back together. Again. But that's what's been keeping them together for a year now, after all, hasn't it?

And Taichi is willing to do it over and over again for as long as Tenma is willing to help him clean up the messes they've made, of course.

"It's fine, Ten-chan. You're fine to feel things like this, after all."

Tenma stares at him dumbfounded before he rolls to lie on his back and laughs. To Taichi, it's the most beautiful thing he'd ever hear in his life. Somehow, it just makes his heart flutter even more. But of course, he keeps that to himself. Who knows what Tenma might say once Taichi actually expresses it.

"How have you kept up with this after all these years?"

"Hmm, what do you mean?"

"You know," Tenma begins. "Those years of high school, you seeing me get confessions and all that jazz left and right, seeing me all romance-y in those dramas, witnessing me kiss people that arent...you..." He feels his voice falter at that last part and only barely manages to catch himself a moment later. "It must've been pretty hard on your part, right?"

Taichi tries to push those memories back, sleepless nights spent in wallowing anxiety and disgust at himself for crushing over someone too far from the ends of his fingertips, someone who's too into the spotlight to even notice all the dark corners of the stage around him. Mornings in bed fretting over how he'd have to act in front of Tenma without ever letting his true feelings slip up. Afternoons of walking home from school with the other by his side (and Juza, of course) wondering if he'll ever have the chance to do what those co-leads in his endless list of romance dramas did with him, only to catch himself in those daydreams and convince his brain that he could never have a chance with someone as perfect and God-like as Tenma Sumeragi.

Yet here is the same Tenma Sumeragi a whole year later, lying on his bed still looking at him like a lovestruck idiot, a face more real than what the cameras and theatregoers could ever capture once he has to stand on the spotlight.

There may be things Taichi will never understand: why Tenma chose Taichi out of everyone in the universe, why the stars have decided that they should be the ones together. But the very presence of Tenma, still standing by his side even after everything that's happened between them, seems to have answered everything Taichi's been meaning to ask.

It's an answer with no need for words, just tender gazes and genuine playful grins on their faces.

"You just live with it. And now you gotta, too, since I'm also popular now."

Tenma pouts. "I'm still more popular than you, though."

"Does that even need a debate?"

Tenma sits up and shrugs. "Guess not."

A beat of comforting silence passes by them before Tenma speaks up, bringing the conversation back.

"I could still announce it on TV, though," Tenma remarks. "I know it's not the wisest decision. But it could lift off a heavy load from our backs."

Taichi thinks, maybe it is a good idea. That would mean total privacy left just for them. That would mean less people getting off Tenma's backs, expecting him to like them back. That would mean less chances for people and fans to hook him up with some hot chick because he's already taken, happily in a relationship with someone as hopeless with him. Taichi thinks of the prospects, of more open dates without Tenma having to wear those shades and mask, of being free enough to show their intimacy in the dorms no matter how much it would freak some people (re: Yuki) out.

But then reality sets in, and Taichi realises why he can't. Someone like Tenma, too young in mind to really stand on his own feet and face the criticisms when it comes to his own identity, wouldn't be able to take it. He's not as solid as Yuki. (And even Taichi wonders just how much trauma Yuki's growing up years has brought him). The boy would sink in popularity and only be met with even more hateful comments than usually gets. Taichi can't imagine just how much it will ruin Tenma.

And it's not just Tenma who will suffer. Taichi would face that same amount of harassment as well. And with them being in the same company together, Mankai would definitely suffer that same fate too.

Taichi's mind then wanders off to a future that is hopefully not so distant, a world where they could stand in the spotlight together, hand-in-hand without ever having to hide who they are in their shadows. Taichi hopes for that dream one day to soon become a reality so they won't have to hide behind curtains and backstages as they face the monstrosity that is the world together with an uncertain future awaiting for them.

He stretches a bit to where Tenma's head lies and gently places a quick peck onto his forehead.

For now, however, this is enough.

**Author's Note:**

> if there is anything i learned abt writing taichi (for the first time in my life, at that), it's that he is dumbass in all aspects EXCEPT when he's with tenma. his braincell returns when he's with tenma
> 
> but at what cost


End file.
